Don’t forget your dinner before you come to the succulent, French food- filled film, “Julie & Julia”! Between scenes of delicious, buttery fish and dark chocolate cake is a story of two women– Julia Child, the famed chef who introduced French cooking to America in the 1960’s and Julie Powell, a woman living in the 2000’s in a mediocre apartment in New York city with a stressful secretarial job.

At first the two women seem completely unconnected. Although the viewer gets to know both women very well, they never meet. However, they do share similar stories– they both want to find something that brings excitement to their lives. Both women turn to food, finding unplanned fame as they follow their passions. Julie is a follower of Julia Child and decides to create a blog about her personal challenge– to cook every recipe in Julia Child’s cookbook “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”.

The highlight of the movie is Meryl Streep’s performance as Julia Child. Not only does she look the part, but her onscreen presence is bewitching.

The film drags when Julie is moaning about her poor life—the repetition of heart breaking cooking disasters and depressing job scenes gives a “whiny child” aspect to an actress who clearly does not deserve that title. However, that was the personality of the character she was playing, so she should not be criticized for playing it well. In fact, the serious side of Amy Adams was impressive, particularly after starring in less serious movies, like “Enchanted”.

The bittersweet end was the best part of the movie– my first reaction was surprise, but it changed to understanding (especially since it’s a true story). This movie can inspire a love, or at least interest, in good food in anyone, and therefore is a movie well worth seeing!